Location: United States
Member Since:
March 26, 2012
Elise Loring
Books
Smashwords book reviews by Elise Loring
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The White Lilac
on Jan. 29, 2013
(no rating)
I loved this book. The story was new and original. The characters were interesting and deep. The world was intricate and different. Ok so first I'll talk about the plot. This book is based on a planet called Beta Earth. Beta Earth has an indigenous aquatic animal called a Jigger. The Jigger give off a toxin that kills all human that don't have the cure every eighty years during mating season. Not only that but to make matters worse the only cure for the jigger toxin is jigger eggs which are laid in an anemone that is poisonous to the touch. The Compound is a scientific lab that is dedicated to creating the cure. Caryn is one of the genetically modified humans bred to give her life to get the cure. She is given three days to live life outside the Compound. While there she runs into an orphan boy named Kai. He shows her how to live and how to love. Will Caryn give her life to save everyone? Or will she decide to live and leave everyone to fend for themselves? What is the Compounds true motive? Read it and find out. The answer to these questions will surprise you. The plot was well written, unpredictable, and completely original. It was riveting from the very first page. I couldn't put it down. The characters were interesting and deep. Caryn starts out naive and ignorant but she grows into a confident and beautiful girl who follows her heart instead of just listening to what she's told. She is kind and finds the beauty in everything. Kai is jaded and cynical. Growing without food or shelter or anything that was truly his has made him like this. But when he meets Caryn she teaches him how to live and love. Kai also has a secret that not even he knows about that is the key to why he can hold his breath under water for a long time and why he is so violent good at mathmatical equations. I loved this book immensely. It was intricate, intriguing, beautifully well written and original. I recommend this book.
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The White Lilac
on Jan. 29, 2013
I loved this book. The story was new and original. The characters were interesting and deep. The world was intricate and different. Ok so first I'll talk about the plot. This book is based on a planet called Beta Earth. Beta Earth has an indigenous aquatic animal called a Jigger. The Jigger give off a toxin that kills all human that don't have the cure every eighty years during mating season. Not only that but to make matters worse the only cure for the jigger toxin is jigger eggs which are laid in an anemone that is poisonous to the touch. The Compound is a scientific lab that is dedicated to creating the cure. Caryn is one of the genetically modified humans bred to give her life to get the cure. She is given three days to live life outside the Compound. While there she runs into an orphan boy named Kai. He shows her how to live and how to love. Will Caryn give her life to save everyone? Or will she decide to live and leave everyone to fend for themselves? What is the Compounds true motive? Read it and find out. The answer to these questions will surprise you. The plot was well written, unpredictable, and completely original. It was riveting from the very first page. I couldn't put it down. The characters were interesting and deep. Caryn starts out naive and ignorant but she grows into a confident and beautiful girl who follows her heart instead of just listening to what she's told. She is kind and finds the beauty in everything. Kai is jaded and cynical. Growing without food or shelter or anything that was truly his has made him like this. But when he meets Caryn she teaches him how to live and love. Kai also has a secret that not even he knows about that is the key to why he can hold his breath under water for a long time and why he is so violent good at mathematical equations. I loved this book immensely. It was intricate, intriguing, beautifully well written and original. I recommend this book.
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The Athena Effect
on March 02, 2013
This book was a typical love story with a fun and unique twist. I loved the relationship between Calvin and Caledonia. I loved Caledonia's character. I also thought that the love story was cute and beautiful. There were a lot of parts that had me squealing or going 'awwww' in it and the descriptions of the colors helped emphasize their feeling for each other. This book is about a girl named Caledonia who has been living in hiding her whole life. She doesn't have electricity, no phone, no tv, no music, and they get their food through hunting and gathering. Then one tragic day her parents die. She is forced to move in with her Aunt who lives in the city. While there she saves a boy named Calvin from getting beaten to death. Calvin is the typical good-looking, girl=magnet, playboy that Caledonia knows to avoid but for some reason he just can't leave her alone. His stubborn determination to know her finally gets through to her and they become friends. As she gets to know him more she realizes maybe he is trustworthy and so they fall madly and deeply in love with each other. But Caledonia has a secret that one man would do anything to get his hands on. Caledonia has the Athena Effect or the ability to change animals and later peoples emotions. This ability makes her able to change how they feel about her and their surroundings and so effects the actions they take. Professor Reed the scientist who her parents were hiding her from will do anything to get his hands on her and Calvin will do anything to protect her. I thought that the Athena Effect was an interesting twist to a beautiful love story. I loved that the main character had two different eyes colors and I loved the love story between Calvin and Caledonia. It was cut and had me going 'awww' in quite a few places. I loved Caledonia's character. Even though she was naive and ignorant she was willing to learn and grow. She could also take care of herself quite well as she proves over and over and over again. I loved that she didn't use fer abilities with malicious intent and just used it for self-defense or a good cause. I thought that Calvin was personality was typical. I've seen character like him done time and time again in love stories and yet despite that I loved him. I could clearly and honestly tell that he loved her even if her abilities didn't tell us he did. He treated her like she was his goddess and his development was good. Overall it was a good book.
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Bone Dressing
on April 24, 2013
First I want to thank the author for a free copy of this in exchange for an honest review. I really tried to like this story because it was so original like nothing else I had ever read but I had a hard time finishing it. It was ridiculously long in some places and most of the book was choppy and I was confused about what was going on. The plot was original and interesting. This book is about a girl named Sydney who is angry at the world. One night while walking in a cemetery she runs into Beau, Sarah, and T.J. their pet panther. Then everything for her changes as she goes on a journey to find the essence of her very soul through walking in the shoes of her past lives. I did love the concept and idea of this story. It just wasn't executed very well. It has potential and I think with a lot of editing it could do well but it was just so choppy that I couldn't get lost in the story. Not only that but there were some pretty big inconsistencies that I just could not let go which also made it hard to get into the plot. I did love the part of this book where she travels in her past life but that was about the only part I liked. The main character had so many parts where she had long drawn out monologues about the same damn thing over and over again I just got so beyond annoyed I would have to put the book down because her whining got to me. She also was just plain rude to everyone. She interrupted everyone, never let them say anything. She was confrontational about everything. She was bad mannered and bad tempered and just all around very unlovable character. I couldn't stand her. Beau's character was nice and charming but he jumped from hot to cold so quickly for seemingly no reason that his character completely confused me. Also the villain in this was forgettable. I completely forgot about Sydney and him battling it out when he wasn't actually on the page. His motives for being evil were not revealed even a tiny bit and so he just seemed to like to cause harm because he could and was shallow and unimportant. Overall this book is a good idea but it needs major editing and fixing.
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To Stand Beside Her
on May 31, 2013
I have to say I loved every moment of this book. From page one all the way to the bittersweet and unexpected ending. I love the world of this book Lexia the desert city, Dria the river city, North Country the mountain city, each with their own unique way of life and each equally descriptive and beautiful. I especially love the characterization, each character has a different unique personality with their own individual quirks. I loved that I could relate to each and every one of them. I also like that the true bad guy in this novel is fate, life, and time. Though their were bad people they were not the main culprit. I haven't ever read a book quite like this one. It was unique and original. I loved how it was more about how she lived her life then her saving the world or some cliche thing. It was well developed, well thought out, and well written. The imagery was beautiful. My favorite part of the whole book was the characterization and the lives and choices each character made. It's been a long time since I've read a book like this not since Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran. This book is about a woman named Leila who is a courier. Her friend gets caught one day and Leila barters her life for her friends. Nalick the king that caught her makes a deal with her if she stays and marries him he will let her friend go. Nalick is doing this in the beginning because his seer saw that Leila and he were fated to be together. At first I was pissed at Nalick for forcing her into this when she didn't want it but later I found he was a sweet, caring man that just wanted her to stay long enough to get to know him. I love how their relationship grows. Its slow but because it is its realistic, and there is no denying that they love each other. The other nobles of Lexia don't like Leila because she's a commoner and other kings are trying to kidnap her to make her their bride also, so their lives are hardly dull. Leila is so cool. She can definitely take care of herself. She's strong-willed, head-strong, and stubborn, but she's also trustworthy, caring, and has a huge heart that is loyal and pure. I loved the children Phillip, Tim, and Ruth. They were adorable and just had my heart melting from the first page. Nalick is a strict and scary king, but underneath he's caring, loving, and a little bit of an anxious worrywart. But he's handsome and has a heart of gold. Anatolio well his character was incredibly done. He was Leila's protector, her shadow. He knew everything about her and he truly cared about her. Now I don't want to give the ending away so all I'm going to say is pay attention to his character because he plays a major role in Leila's life later. *I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review.*